LESCO to establish “Help Desk” at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry

LESCO to establish “Help Desk” at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry

March 29, 2018

Lahore, March 28, 2018 (PPI-OT): On demand of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chief Executive of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) Mujahid Pervaiz Chattah has announced to establish “LESCO Help Desk” at the LCCI. The announced was made during a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which was also addressed by the LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid, Senior Vice President Khawaja Khawar Rashid, Vice President Zeeshan Khalil and Executive Committee Members.

LESCO Chief also agreed with the LCCI President that mindset of LESCO staff should be changed that would resolve various problems automatically. “LESCO really needs change in mindset and I am doing a lot in this regard along with my dedicated team”, he added.

To a question, LESCO chief said that depreciation ratio on transformers is 5% annually. It is policy of NEPRA and LESCO has approached for a reasonable change. He said that system for purchasing of meters has been changed after establishment of NEPRA. Before LESCO was able to negotiate but now contract has to be given the lowest bidder. He said action has been taken against the supplier of low quality meters and hopefully situation would be better in the days to come.

About load shedding at commercial feeders, Mujahid Pervaiz Chattah said that all industrial feeders are being checked to avoid unscheduled load shedding. He said that there are some problems due to load shifting. He said that technical and commercial losses are the reasons of minor power cuts. “We have taken oath to get rid of the overbilling.

We are controlling line losses and have also launched an effective campaign against electricity theft. We have uncovered power theft at 15 tube wells in a day at Ferozewala”, the LESCO chief told the house and added that that LESCO is working aggressively at technical side to control the flaws. He said that 17 new grid stations have been established and upgraded. Two grid stations have been made double source with the cost of Rs.1 billion.

Earlier, the LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid said that the cost of new transformers is borne by consumers but when these are replaced or removed, the LESCO team claims the ownership. Moreover, the depreciation of transformers is calculated at the rate of 10% per annum. In case, the industry remains closed for a year even then depreciation is applied.

He said that in case, the load is increased and new transformer is purchased, the old transformer should be handed over to the consumer. He should be allowed to use that transformer somewhere else or LESCO should purchase it from the consumer to compensate his cost. He said that if the consumer is responsible for a damaged meter then he should bear the cost of new meter. In case, a meter has got damaged or malfunctioned due to rain, loose connection or negligence of LESCO staff then the cost of replacing new meter should be borne by LESCO.

The LCCI President said that our members are complaining about low quality of meters being installed by LESCO. Any malfunctioning in these meters, which has nothing to do with consumers, results in heavy penalties. LESCO should arrange reliable and durable meters which meet all the quality standards.

He said that the industry is exempted from load shedding even then there are some industrial feeders where at least 2 hours duration load shedding is being done. The industry is already facing crisis situation and working hard to enhance the exports of country. It is suggested that load shedding should only be done after 8 p.m. so that 90% of industry which runs their operation in morning shift does not get suffered.

Malik Tahir Javaid said that LESCO makes necessary adjustment in bills upon receiving income tax exemption certificates. However, in the bills of June which are due in July, the same taxes are included. As fiscal year ends in June, therefore, the exemption is applied on bills of June as well. He said that there are still some issues of meter reading being faced by industry. It is suggested that only experienced and skilled staff members should be allocated in industrial areas for this job. If possible, we can introduce meter reading cards to be placed in factories to keep the record of meter reading.

“Many problems can be curtailed if there is a specific timeline for addressing each issue. In case of general complaint, meter replacement, transformer up-gradation, new connections, we must be able to track the status of our applications. You should ensure that SOPs must be followed to improve the performance of LESCO. It is strongly suggested that there should be more focus on preventive maintenance of LESCO installations. By way of following the schedule of general maintenance, the issues like tripping and down-time can be reduced”, the LCCI president added.

Malik Tahir Javaid said that LESCO also needs to launch Electricity Saving campaign in Lahore to create awareness among the consumers about the use of energy. Consumers are to be educated for using particular electric gadgets which are energy efficient. We need to change the mindset of LESCO support staff. From Chief Engineers to meter readers, all the staff members should practice professionalism with full responsibility and customer care attitude”, the LCCI President concluded.

Senior Vice President LCCI Khawaja Khawar Rashid and Vice President Zeeshan Khalil said that complaint centers do not seriously respond to the complaints of customers. They said that LESCO should introduce Solar System at local level. They said that electricity shut downs due to maintenance have also become a routine of LESCO but no maintenance work has been seen anywhere in the city. Mian Muhammad Nawaz, Shahid Nazir Ch, Navid ur Rehman Chan, Muhammad Arshad Chaudhry, Mian Abdul Razzaq, Bao Bashir, Javed Iqbal Bhati, Khaliq Arshad and others were also present on the occasion.